“We have no right to ask when a sorrow comes, “why did this happen to me?”
unless we ask the same question for every joy that comes our way.”
–something I just read
When bad things happen, it’s a natural response to ask, “why me?”
When I read that quote, I wondered why we would ask the question at all. What happens to us is either part of a plan we agreed to before coming here OR it’s a random act.
If it’s random there IS no why.
But. In the first case, there’s a lesson, whether it’s for us or someone else. This is very hard to reason out, sometimes. Take Hitler, for example. Who is that lesson for? Why did so many have to suffer?
Or when babies get sick and die. Why? What is the lesson and who is it for?
I don’t have answers. But I do have trust that there is a bigger picture, a bigger plan and reasoning beyond what we can fathom in our very limited earthly minds.
No question that it’s hard to wrap our heads around the reasons for such bad stuff.
That’s where faith comes in: the belief in something greater when there is absolutely no proof of it.
Faith is something I didn’t connect with until later in my life. I didn’t connect with it in a religious sense as much as I did in a spiritual sense.
There IS a greater meaning to all this. I don’t have to know what it is to believe that.
How about you? What are your thoughts on “why me?”
I offer spiritual connections and both life between lives and past life regressions that can help clarify what’s happening in your life. Explore them here and I’m always glad to discuss whether or not this might be a fit for you.
When I start asking “Why me” it is usually when things have not gone well for me. I try to remind myself that others have it worse than me. That usually puts things in perspective. We are less likely to ask “why me” when good things happen, but this question certainly can apply to those situations as well.
Unlike Karen, I am so grateful that I live in modern times when there is so much LESS corruption, greed, violence and hate in the world. No Jim Crow laws, no World Wars, no polio, less crime, more safety, longer lifespans, etc., etc. etc. But it’s true, bad things can still happen. The version of the quote I know is attributed to Arthur Ashe, tennis champion who died of AIDS from a blood transfusion: “If I were to say ‘God, why me?’ about the bad things, then I should have said, ‘God, why me?’ about the good things that happened in my life.”
This is a little bit of a slide off the topic, but lately I feel overwhelmed by the amount of corruption, greed, violence and hate in the world. I am probably spending too much time reading news stories via Twitter. (Today it was an older Asian woman in NYC jumped in front of guards who did nothing…well, except close a church door on her.) I do think there are many individual people who are decent. But in the aggregate, people STINK! So it’s not “Why Me?” as much as “Why do so many people stink?” But I like the tone of your blog posts. You are a realist with hope. I should probably spend some time reading some of your back log as a way to witness that not all humans are depraved!
I do have hope …although sometimes I can’t get at it. But it always returns.
I’m having a little different “why me” feelings today. I had a breast biopsy last week and am so grateful that it was benign and all is well. And I can’t stop thinking about so many of my friends, some still here, some not, who got the opposite news. Why them? It’s a bigger question than I have answers for. You’re right, we have to trust.
I am so happy to hear this. I have been there, too. I have been doing some work on ‘what if’ now…
I am in the first school. That nothing is random and everything happens for a reason. Instead of lamenting (though I do that, too!) I look for that reason.
When my sweet Mom was fading from us through the effects of Parkinson’s, we just couldn’t fathom why this would happen to her. Then we saw the effect on our dad. How Mr. Impatience became infinitely more patient and helpful and kind. It was actually quite beautiful.
Now, instead of thinking, Why Me? I answer with Why Not Me? And then look for what I can learn!
Your attitude is so beautiful, my friend.